Masquerade
by LileyKigoSpashleyRizzslesLover
Summary: After Angela learns of her daughter's feelings for Maura she cooks up a plan that would allow Jane to spend a night with her without any risk of losing her best friend. Jane/Maura. Oneshot.


"Hey Ma." Jane greeted as she walked up to the counter to order her coffee.

"Good morning sweetie!" She chimed before getting to work on the order. Jane got the same thing each day so it wasn't too hard to figure out what she wanted. As she handed it over, she spoke. "Janey, I have some good news for you."

"Yeah?"

"I've found you a nice boy to go out with tonight."

Jane sighed in irritation. "Jesus, Ma. Don't you understand? None of these guys are gonna work out for me!"

"Excuse me for not wanting you to die alone! I just want you to fall in love and be happy."

"Well I already _am _in love with someone." She said, regretting it the minute it left her mouth.

Angela perked up and grinned so wide Jane swore her face would split in two.

"No!" Jane shouted. "I know that look and I am _not _saying anything else. I'm just gonna go upstairs and enjoy my coffee."

"But Ja – "

"Ah!" She held her hand up to stop her from talking before exiting the tiny coffee shop quickly.

Angela made a move to follow her but one look from Stanley and she decided against it. Oh well, she would have time during her lunch break and it wasn't like her daughter would be too far away.

"Hey Jane!" Maura greeted when her best friend exited the elevator. "What's wrong?" She asked when she spotted the look on her face.

"Oh you know, the usual. My mother's trying to butt into my life again." She said before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Oh. Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No!" She said a little too quickly. "I – I mean, no, that's okay. You don't need to."

"Okay…" She said slowly, trying to evaluate her best friend's odd behavior. "Anyway, I came up here to tell you that the John Doe's been delivered so if you wanted to watch…"

"Yeah, sure… I'll be right down."

Maura nodded and left.

Jane sat down at her desk and logged in before going through her inbox for anything important. Several minutes, and several answered emails, later she went down to autopsy.

When she entered she found that the M.E. was already dressed in the appropriate gear and finished with the external exam.

"I found a few fibers that didn't match his clothes but nothing else."

Jane nodded as she put on her own set of scrubs and gloves. She watched as Maura made an incision into the body and couldn't help her eyes traveling up her arms and down the rest of her body. She had been dealing with these feelings for her best friend for quite awhile but only recently realized that she actually was in love with the other woman. She wasn't sure how long she could handle keeping this a secret without going crazy but she was willing to do whatever it took to have things stay the same so she wouldn't risk losing Maura as her friend. She came to this decision after hours and hours of deliberation and figured that the chances that this would be requited were slim to none.

"Jane?" Maura repeated.

"Huh?" Said woman's head snapped up.

"You kinda zoned out there for a minute. I said that the bullet wound is indeed the cause of death. It traveled into his heart." She said, holding up the small object with tweezers.

"Oh, right… yeah that makes sense."

Maura dropped it into a plastic bag before labeling it and placing it next to the other bagged evidence from the body. "Are you sure everything's okay? Something tells me that talk with your mother was anything but usual. She's not trying to arrange a marriage for you or anything, is she?" She frowned, figuring it wouldn't be too far off base for the older woman to do so.

"What?" Jane had to laugh at that."No! Of course not!"

"Well then what is it? You're a little unlike yourself today."

"She just wanted to set me up for tonight, that's all. I told her that I didn't want to go and she got upset."

"Oh. Alright." She said, seemingly happy with that answer. "I thought it was something serious."

Jane rolled her eyes but smiled. "Just finish your autopsy."

With limited conversation the rest of the way through, Maura finished her work but the only thing of interest she found was that he had what looked like a burger and fries an hour or two before he was killed.

"You hungry?"

Jane raised an eyebrow. "After that? A little bit, actually." She laughed.

"Good. There's this new Thai place I wanted to try. Why don't you go invite your mother while I clean up here."

"My mother? Were you not here when we were having that conversation?"

Maura gave her a look. "She's just trying to make sure you're happy."

Jane laughed and then "I'm not gonna let you be around her anymore. You're starting to sound like her."

She ignored that. "I just want you to be happy too."

"Then tell her to stop bugging me about dating."

Maura pursed her lips, keeping the first thing that came to mind to say away. "Just go tell your mother about lunch."

"Fine." Jane sighed and walked out and to the elevators. She hit the up button and waited, glowering at the situation she was put in. A few moments passed and she walked into the café.

"Come back to apologize?" Angela asked.

"No. I've been told to invite you to lunch."

"I always knew I liked Dr. Isles." She smiled, knowing she was behind it.

"Whatever. Are you coming or not?"

She nodded. "My break's in five minutes."

"Fantastic." Jane said wryly. "Just do me a favor and don't tell Maura about what we talked about this morning."

Angela eyed her curiously. "Why?" She was actually planning to talk to the doctor about it when Jane wasn't around, figuring that if anyone knew who Jane was in love with it would be her. Why wouldn't she know anything about – it hit her like a freight train. "Oh my God."

Jane saw the look in her eyes and panicked. "No! Don't say it! Don't say anything!"

She ignored her pleas. "You're in love with M-mmph!" Her words were cut off when Jane slammed her hand over her mouth.

Just in time too, as Maura just rounded the corner to enter the café. "Jane? What are you doing?"

"N-nothing!" She removed her hand but not before she gave her mother a very threatening looking glare.

Maura considered the scene for a moment before, wisely, choosing not to comment on it. "Are you two ready to go?"

"My break's not for another couple of minutes." She said. Normally she would leave early but Stanley was pretty strict about the schedule.

"Yeah, and I need to talk to her before we go. Mother-daughter talk. Why don't you go back downstairs and we'll come get you when we're ready."

The M.E. just nodded and left, slightly worried. She was usually always included in Rizzoli business whether she wanted to be or not. She couldn't help but worry if they were talking about her.

"Rizzoli, stop messing around and get back to work!" Stanley yelled when he walked in and saw her chatting instead of serving the few people that were waiting in line.

"Sorry Janey. Sit down and wait and we'll talk after I serve them."

Jane did as she was told and watched her mother take and fill orders. After a few minutes Angela took off her apron for her lunch break. She sat down next to her daughter.

"So?"

"Not here. I don't want anyone to overhear us." She got up and led her mother into an empty interrogation room. After making sure there wasn't anyone on the other side of the mirror she sat down at the other side of the table. "Please don't tell Maura anything. I don't want her to figure it out and I know that if she knows that I'm in love with someone she won't stop until she gets a name."

"Why would it be so bad if she found out?"

Jane couldn't help but laugh at that stupid question. "Seriously? It would change everything!"

"Not necessarily for the worse."

"Most definitely for the worse. If she found out things would be awkward and she would probably avoid me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not. I just don't want to risk it."

Angela didn't respond right away. She thought about it for a minute or two before an idea came to her. "What if I told you I had an idea that would involve you being with her for a night without her knowing it's you?"

"I'm not following."

"Just trust me."

"Why do I always get a sinking feeling after you say that?"

"Let's just go get Maura."

They did and headed out to the nearby restaurant. When they arrived they were seated and had their orders taken immediately. Jane and Maura were sitting down right next to each other while Angela was across from them.

"So, have you girls heard about the masquerade ball happening at the Seaport Hotel?"

Both women shook their heads.

"Well I was planning to go and was wondering if you two wanted to. And Maura, I know this pretty great guy that's going. I could set you two up if you want."

Maura smiled, figuring this was the same guy that she was trying to set up with Jane earlier. "Sure, I'll give it a shot."

Angela grinned. "Great!"

"So what's his name?"

Her smile faltered as her mind searched for a name. "Uh… Patrick! Patrick… Baker. His parents live down the street from our old house."

Jane's brows furrowed. She didn't remember any Patrick Baker that lived in her childhood neighborhood. But Jane was pretty bright, it didn't take too long for her to figure out that _she _was supposed to be Patrick.

"So he was a childhood friend of Jane's?"

"Yep! He used to hang out with Janey and her brothers all the time." She looked over to Jane with a look telling her to do something to change the topic. She didn't want to keep answering questions about this person she just made up. She wasn't sure if she could keep the lies straight.

"Yeah it was great. Anyway, did we get the results back from the lab?" Jane said, knowing that Maura would happily talk about work.

"Not yet, Jane. You know that takes a few hours."

"Right…" It was worth a shot.

"Anyway," Maura said, getting back to the previous topic. "When is this party?"

"Friday. Seven o'clock."

"I'll be sure to be there! Jane?"

"Uh… I dunno."

"I don't want to go without you."

"You won't be alone. Patrick will be there, apparently." She gave her mother a glare.

"Yes but what if he's not all that great? I'll need backup."

"I'll, uh… think about it." She really needed to talk to her mother after this for getting her into this situation. It wasn't going to go well, she could feel it.

Their spring roll appetizer arrived and they each grabbed one and took a bite. It was a unanimous decision that the rolls were delicious and, a few minutes later, their meals arrived.

"So what's he like?" Maura asked the other two women as she dug into her mango curry.

"Uh…" Angela stalled.

Jane jumped in. "Isn't the purpose of a blind date that neither person knows anything about the other? It's not very fair to Patrick if you know all this stuff about him."

Maura smiled and nodded. "You're right. But that's okay, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other on Friday."

"Yeah," Jane laughed out nervously, "Friday." She continued eating her Pad Thai in silence while Maura and Angela discussed the ball and what they might wear.

XXXXX

The rest of the week passed by fairly quickly with no murders, aside from the John Doe from earlier which was quickly solved, needing to be dealt with. Due to all their free time, Maura dragged Jane to yoga while Jane tried to convince Maura to try boxing.

The night of the ball came and Maura was just putting the finishing touches on her makeup when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Maura." It was Jane. "I can't come tonight, sorry. I gotta do a stakeout with Korsak."

Maura frowned. "Can't Frost do it?"

"He is. We needed multiple vantage points."

"Oh… well I'll be sure to tell you how it went later."

"You'd better." Jane smiled. "But I gotta go now. See you la – er – tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye." She hung up.

Jane did as well before setting her phone down so she could readjust her wig. It was kind of itchy but it looked pretty realistic and hid her long hair pretty well. "Are you sure that this is going to work? I have a feeling that she'll recognize me."

"Oh don't be ridiculous. If I didn't know it was you even I wouldn't recognize you. And besides, you'll have the mask."

"Yeah, but Maura has a pretty sharp eye."

"Shush." Angela said as she fixed her daughter's tie.

Jane just glared at her.

"I'll be there the whole time so if she gets any suspicions I'll think of something."

"I still think we should have gone with the cousin route. At least then she would just chalk it up to family resemblance."

"I know. But I didn't think of that when she was interrogating me. Just stick to the story and it'll be fine."

"Alright." She looked into the mirror when her mother stepped back and looked herself over. She didn't look half bad. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yep. The taxi should be here in a few minutes so I'll take your car right now." She said, grabbing the keys. They figured it would be a good idea to arrive at separate times and in separate cars just in case.

"Okay. See you there."

Angela waved her goodbye and headed out.

Jane looked down at Joe Friday who was tilting her head at her owner's new appearance. She bent down and patted her on the head. "I sure hope this works out. I know Ma just wants to help but usually her plans backfire pretty badly. I just don't want things to change between me and Maura."

Joe let out a bark to tell her that she understood.

The detective smiled and scratched the dog behind the ears. "I should go down and wait for the cab." She stood up and grabbed her things before leaving.

Minutes later, across town, Maura arrived at the hotel. There were already about fifty people there dancing and each one was donning a mask.

Maura's was probably one of the most intricate ones there. It was silky black and red with feathers coming up along one side and swirly designs done with small gemstones.

She purchased a wristband that would allow her to enter and reenter as she pleased and went in. She looked around and didn't see the dress that Angela described, telling her she wasn't there yet, so she just decided to mingle with whoever was nearby.

A few minutes later Angela arrived. She spotted Maura easily and went over.

"Hey Maura!" She greeted.

Maura turned around and smiled. "Hi! Cool mask."

"Thanks. You too."

"So is he here yet?"

Angela looked around to search even though she knew Jane wasn't here yet. "I don't see him. He'll probably get here within the next half hour."

Maura nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell me about him or do I have to wait?"

"Well… he's wearing a tux."

"That doesn't really eliminate many of the guys here." She laughed, looking around at all the other men wearing tuxedos.

Angela laughed too. "The ball doesn't end for another couple of hours so you'll have plenty of time to talk to him. And look, I think he just showed up." She said, pointing to the entrance. She waved Jane over, hoping she could spot them.

She did and walked over. "H- hello Mrs. Rizzoli." Jane said, attempting to adjust her voice so that it was lower. It sounded kind of awkward and she hoped no one would notice. Luckily for her, the noise levels in the room were high enough to help her out with that.

"Hello Patrick."

"Is this the Maura you told me about?" She asked, looking at the M.E. Her nerves were going full force as she was worried that Maura could see right through the façade even though they chose a larger than normal mask to hide more of her features. It was just a plain white one but it did the job.

"Yep. Maura, this is Patrick Baker." She grinned as she introduced Jane's alter ego.

Jane smiled and held out her gloved hand. The gloves were a late but much needed addition, as she realized Maura would probably recognize her if she saw the scars on her hands from her first encounter with Charles Hoyt. Now she just had to hope she had no reason to take them off.

Maura looked up into the chocolate eyes and couldn't help but be struck by a sense of familiarity. She shook it off quickly to return the shake.

"I think I'm going to leave you two to it!" Angela said as she walked over to a nearby group of people to introduce herself.

"So," Jane started nervously. "Do you want to dance?" She felt like she was just transported back to middle school but in the opposite role.

Maura beamed. "I would love to."

Jane held out her hand for the other woman to take and they made their way to the dance floor. It took her a second to realize she was the one who was leading and readjusted her hands accordingly.

"So you've known Angela your whole life, huh?"

"Y-yeah. She lived down the street from my childhood home."

"Do you still live here in Boston?"

Jane shook her head. "I moved to California a couple of years ago." She said the same thing she and her mother had practiced.

"Oh really?" Maura asked, intrigued. "Why did you decide to do that?"

"For work. I work for a security service company that transferred me to Sacramento."

"So what are you doing here?"

"Just visiting family. And then Mrs. Rizzoli called me up the other day to invite me here…" She trailed off, not sure what else to say so she decided to change the topic. "What do you do?" She asked, pretending she didn't already know the answer.

"I'm the Boston Chief Medical Examiner."

"Wow, sounds tough!"

"It can be challenging, yes, but it's very rewarding."

They continued to dance, talk, and laugh for the next few hours about anything that came to mind. Many times during their conversation Jane had to quickly come up with answers to questions that were unexpected. When she figured that Maura wasn't going to recognize her she allowed herself to relax and enjoy this chance she thought she would never have again.

From the start Maura was struck. She was absolutely amazed at how immediate the connection was – having only ever felt that way with Jane. As the night went on and they continued their dancing she couldn't help but smile. She had been hoping that she would find someone to move her affections to as she figured the detective didn't feel the same. There had been moments, of course, where she thought she saw a hint of something in Jane's eyes but played it off to her own hopefulness.

As the night was winding down and the guests started to trickle out, Maura took her date's hand and brought them both outside to a balcony overseeing the harbor.

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you tonight, Patrick."

"Same here." Jane said, focusing harder on her voice now that they were in a pretty quiet area. She looked down into hazel eyes and knew this was a bad idea. Now that she knew how it was to be like this with Maura she didn't know how she could ever go back to being just friends. Maybe she should just come clean tonight.

"So when do you have to go back?"

"Back?" Jane asked, not paying attention.

"To California?"

"Oh. Uh… tomorrow."

Maura frowned. "That's too bad. I would have loved to spend more time with you while you're here."

"Yeah. Me too."

The M.E. hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I hope I'm not too… forward in saying this but… I feel like I've known you forever. Like we're connected somehow."

"I know what you mean. I've never met anyone like you before." She said, speaking the truth for what seemed like the first time that night.

Maura beamed at that. "So how often do you come here?"

"Uh… usually whenever I get a vacation longer than a couple of days. And of course for holidays."

"Of course." She echoed and then paused before she continued. "I would very much like to see where this goes."

"You would?" She gulped, not thinking of this possible outcome.

Maura tilted her head at her companion's behavior. "Yes. Don't you?"

"Of course! I just – we're gonna be so far away from each other!"

"That's never stopped people before. And who knows, maybe one day you can get transferred back."

"Yeah… maybe." This was it, she had to say something now before she got in too deep with this charade. "Uh, Maura. I think I should tell you something."

"Yes?"

Butterflies fluttered around in her stomach as she prepared herself to have her best friend hate her forever. "Well, you see – "

"Maura! Patrick! There you are!" Angela said, walking outside. "I've been looking for you two."

Jane didn't know if she should feel relief or spite the woman who just walked up to them.

"What is it?" Maura asked, fearing that something bad had come up.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how you two were doing. I haven't talked to you all night." For a reason, though. She had spent practically the whole night watching the two dance and, despite how much she wanted to talk to them, she kept her distance. That is, until she couldn't see them anymore.

"We're doing great. In fact, Patrick was just about to tell me something and it sounded important." She placed her hands on Jane's and looked into her eyes.

Jane looked over towards Angela, deciding to backtrack but not able to come up with something else to say.

"Oh you two can talk later, I need to talk to Patrick for a second." She ran up to them and took her daughter by the arm. "I ran into your mother about an hour ago but she couldn't find you…" She said as she walked back into the building, leaving Maura alone. When she was sure they were out of hearing distance she shifted the conversation. "You weren't planning on telling her, were you?"

"I don't know… maybe?"

Angela gave her a look that urged the younger woman to explain.

"I didn't want to get in too deep. I think she was really starting to like Patrick and I wanted to stop her from liking him even more."

"So you don't want her to like you?"

"No, I don't want her to like Patrick! Do you have any idea how much she'll hate me when she finds out he's me?"

Angela frowned. "Oh. I didn't think about that."

"No kidding." She said, looking towards the doorway they just came from to make sure Maura wasn't coming back out. "So do you have any ideas on what to do about th – " Her voice was cut off by a ringing cell phone. It was Maura. She darted into a quieter area and shushed her mother who followed. "Hey Maura! How's the party?"

"I – I don't know. It _was_ going well but…"

"Are you okay?" It sounded like she was a little upset.

"I'm just worried. Patrick and I… we were having a great time but he didn't really seem completely enthralled when I asked him if he wanted to keep in contact to see where it went."

"Oh." Jane's heart sunk. "Maybe it's just too much too soon. You know how some guys are with commitment."

Maura perked back up. "You're right! Thanks Jane!"

"No problem. So besides that it's going well?"

"Yeah. I feel like we really connect, you know? And it may be really soon but I really think he might be the one."

At that, Jane's heart leapt and she couldn't help a smile from forming on her face it faded quickly when she knew her best friend was going to be crushed. "I'm… I'm really happy for you." She said, coming up with something she figured she should say in this situation.

"Thanks. How's your stakeout going?"

"My stakeout?" She asked in confusion. "Oh! That… it's going okay. You know, just sitting here waiting for something to happen. Not much movement yet."

"Well you'll get your guy. You always do." Maura said with conviction. "But I gotta go. I think Patrick's almost done talking with your mother."

"Okay. See you tomorrow." She hung up and looked towards the balcony entrance before turning her attention to her mother. "I think we should go back out there. But I don't know what to say. Or even if I want to say it."

"You leave that to me." She said as they walked back to the balcony.

Maura's eyes lit up as soon as they landed on Jane.

"So I'm going to take Patrick home. His mother wants him back as soon as possible."

"Oh." Her face fell. "Well…" She walked up to them and got up really close to Jane. "I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so."

Maura took out a card and slipped it into Jane's front pocket. She hesitated for a moment before leaning forward and capturing the taller woman's lips in a kiss. However brief it was, it was enough to send a flood of endorphins throughout their bodies and render them speechless for a few moments after they pulled away.

"Wow…" Jane said when she could finally talk again. Though she still couldn't form a coherent thought.

Angela grabbed her daughter by the arm and dragged her out of there. "Well I don't want to keep your mother waiting! Let's go Patrick!"

"Ow! Not so tight!" Jane protested.

They went into Jane's car and Angela drove off.

"Why did we have to leave so soon? You could have at least let me kiss her again."

"And what would she say when she finds out who Patrick really is?"

"Oh… right. I didn't think of that."

"See? Now aren't you glad I was there?"

Jane sighed. "I guess so. Can we just hurry up and get home? I need to get these damn bandages off. They're starting to hurt my ribs."

Angela didn't say anything. Instead she applied just a smidge more pressure to the gas pedal.

XXXXX

"It's been an entire weekend, Jane! Not one word from him!" Maura said when the other woman entered her office to drop off a file that she had requested.

Jane shrugged. "Isn't there some rule or something? Three days or whatever…" She was hoping Maura would just forget about the whole thing. Jane didn't, of course. That kiss flashed through her mind at least every five minutes. It made sleeping these past few days to be very difficult.

"I hope you're right."

"I, uh… should go back upstairs. Just in case Cavanaugh comes up with something for us to do. You know how he gets when it starts to get quiet."

Maura nodded.

Jane left and made a bee line for her computer. She created a random email account under Patrick's name and sent Maura an email. It was short but she hoped it satiated the other woman for the moment.

_Hey Maura, _

_Sorry I haven't gotten to this before – trust me, I wanted to. I got sucked back into work unexpectedly. Anyway, I had a great time with you the other night and I hope you did as well, even if Mrs. Rizzoli cut it off prematurely. _

_Hoping to hear from you soon,_

_Patrick_

Jane sighed and sat back in her chair. She wasn't sure how long this could last but she couldn't bare to see Maura heartbroken.

She shifted her attentions to old case files that had yet to be solved. Not even five minutes passed when she received a response.

_Patrick,_

_That's perfectly fine. I understand work getting in the way. I've had my fair share of days that went on longer than twenty-four hours because of a case. I'm glad you enjoyed the time we spent together. I did as well and I really can't wait to hear your voice again. _

_I hope your return trip was safe and things are going well over there._

_Warmly,_

_Maura_

Jane couldn't help but send back a response – mixing Jane-truth with Patrick-truth and forgetting, momentarily, about the consequences.

_I would love to hear all about these cases of yours – that is, if you're allowed to share them. Of course I enjoyed it. In fact, I've never felt like this about someone else. You've got me under some sort of a spell, I swear. And I would love to hear your voice too but unfortunately I'm about to leave for a job that'll last awhile and, you know, there's the time difference. Maybe another day though._

_The ride home was fine, slept the whole flight back._

She didn't even bother signing a name and just hit 'send'. She logged out of the email account and put her head on her desk before sighing deeply in frustration at herself. She didn't even get five minutes to herself however, when Maura came running in from the elevator, gushing with excitement.

"Jane!" She yelled giddily. "He emailed me! He was just busy and he definitely likes me!"

"That's great!" She responded with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"You don't sound too happy about it."

"I'm just tired, Maura. I'm glad you're happy."

The back and forth emails went on for weeks and the exchanges were filled with stories and an abundant amount of flirting. Things were going great until, with absolutely no warning at all, Patrick stopped responding.

Maura gave it a few days, figuring he had another job to attend to where he couldn't gain access to his email, before walking up to her best friend, pouty lip and all.

"I'm worried about Patrick, Jane. Maybe I should go and see if he's okay."

"What?" Jane looked up at her from her desk. "But – but you don't even know where he lives!"

"I know but – wait…" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

"Uh… I just figured. It hasn't even been a month yet I mean, why would you?" She prayed Maura bought that.

She did. "Yes but… I could always get an address from Angela. She _does _know his mother."

"Or you could just give it time."

Maura's pout deepened. "I _did. _I haven't heard from him in four days!"

"There will be other guys, Maura."

"But not like him! He – he's just everything I've been looking for and didn't even know it."

Jane winced at how far she had let this go. She should have just told Maura that night. "Tell you what. I'll take you out for midweek cocktails. We haven't done that in awhile, right?"

"Okay…" She responded and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Jane. I haven't really been spending a lot of time with you lately." She spent so much of her free time writing to her new beau that she had been neglecting her best friend.

"It's fine. I understand completely." Jane shot the other woman a reassuring smile. "So? Drinks tonight?"

"How about we drink at your place. I haven't seen Joe in awhile."

Jane nodded. "Alright. Sounds good."

"I'll be sure to bring the good wine." The M.E. smiled.

"What's wrong with the stuff I have?" The detective protested.

Maura just gave her a look and went back downstairs.

The two women worked the rest of the day – that is, if work consisted of hallway archery and shopping online for a new pair of pumps – before meeting at Jane's apartment. Maura greeted Joe and gave her a chew toy she spotted a few days ago that she thought the dog would love. Joe grabbed it happily and brought it into the other room to play with.

"You have the wine?" Jane asked.

"Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol." She responded, holding up the bottle.

"Good. I brought the food!" She pointed to the take-out boxes filled with Chinese food on the counter.

Maura frowned. "Maybe I should have brought the Chenin Blanc. It would have paired better."

"We could always just drink beer."

She considered that for a moment before placing the bottles aside. "You know, normally I might disagree but certain types of beers do complement the flavors in some Chinese dishes." She headed towards the fridge. "No doubt you got the greasy, spicy stuff so we'll need a brown ale to complement it." She shifted through the bottles but frowned. "Of course all you have are your lagers."

"It really doesn't matter, Maura." Jane assured. "I'm fine with whatever. Or we can just eat something else."

Maura shook her head. "No. We can drink that." She pointed to the wine and picked up a carton. "Is this one mine?"

Jane walked over and opened it. "Nope. Here." She picked up the other one and handed it to her best friend before grabbing some chopsticks and heading to the couch.

The M.E. poured them both some wine and joined her.

They ate with minimal conversation as Jane really didn't know what to say and Maura's mind was still on Patrick. Eventually, the shorter woman put down her food and turned towards Jane.

"I… I just don't understand." Maura sniffled. "Did I do something to offend him? I've checked over every message I've sent him and I don't see anything that could cause him to just stop talking to me like that."

The detective frowned and her heart broke just hearing the pitiful tone in her voice. After placing her food on the table she brought Maura in for a hug. She held her there for a few minutes, letting Maura tell her about how wonderful Patrick was and how she didn't want to lose him until it became too much for her to handle.

"Okay, that's it! I can't take this anymore!" She said, standing up and letting Maura fall to lie on the couch.

"Jane?" She asked, sitting back up.

"Patrick isn't going to write you back! You know why? Because _I'm _Patrick. Thanks to my mother's _brilliant _thinking," she spat out, obviously sarcastic, "I got to spend one night with you where I could flirt with you without risking our friendship. Obviously neither of us thought about this moment… where you would find out." She closed her eyes, ready for the slap across the face she was sure she would receive. After about a minute she cracked open one eye to see that Maura didn't even move.

"Y-you were him all along?" Maura asked, stunned. After an agonizing few moments of letting it sink in she smiled. It definitely wasn't what Jane expected. "I don't know whether to kill you or kiss you."

"Ki – kiss me?"

"The only reason why I was so happy about having Patrick come into my life was because I connected to him like I did with you. And I figured that you would never feel the same way but, apparently, you do."

"Yeah… I do." She responded, not really able to say much else. After a few moments of silence she sat down on the coffee table and took Maura's hands in her own. "I do, Maura. I think I fell for you the moment I saw you but I didn't quite realize that what I was feeling was more than friendship until a few months ago. I know now, though, that I'm in love with you and if I had thought for one second that there was a chance you would have felt the same then I would have gone for it." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry for hurting you with this stupid Patrick stuff. I just didn't want to lose you but I wanted to be with you so badly that I didn't think of the conseque – "

Maura put a finger to Jane's lips so that she could have a turn at talking. "I'm not mad at you, Jane. I just – I need to be sure of something." She removed her finger.

"What?"

Without responding, the M.E. leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Jane's waist before kissing her. The rush of feelings were the same as last time but multiplied, as they upped the ante on the passion. After a few mind numbing moments, she pulled away.

"Yeah," she breathed out. "That was definitely you."

"So, um… I'm a little lost here. I _lied _to you for weeks and you're not the least bit mad at me?"

"Jane, someone I am so desperately in love with loves me back. How could I be mad at that?"

"So this means I can kiss you whenever I want, right?"

With a twinkle in her eye and a sultry grin on her face, Maura stood. "You can do more than that." She winked, trailed her fingers down the side of Jane's face, and headed for the bedroom.

It only took Jane's brain a couple of seconds to register the words and tell her legs to bolt after her.


End file.
